My Davidson

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“‘Katie’ … I will forever remember that phone call from Davidson alumnus Bryant Barr ’10 … ‘We’ve thought it through, and we would love to have you join our team this summer.’ It changed my life.” What if I told you that arguably the greatest point guard to ever play…

From beneath the ground to the tops of trees, in every color of the rainbow, found on all continents except Antarctica, orchids are among the most diverse plant families, with around 30,000 species. I came to Europe to learn about a handful of these fascinating plants, each with unique characteristics…

Previously visiting a new country required a lot of planning; but thanks to the internet, things have gotten a lot easier and faster. You can quickly find reputable and cheap accommodation, taxis and places to sightsee. Traveling alone or without a guide has become the best option, as it is…

While squatting down in the dusty lower region of the “big room” on site, my mind drifted to issues unrelated to the work before me: the feast we were to receive for lunch in just a few hours, dorm room design ideas to discuss with my roommate, what my dog…

Friday, I arrived in Dresden bright and early, ready to check items off of my bucket list. I immediately took a historical tour of the Altstadt and learned about the history of the Frauenkirche, various buildings and monuments, seemingly random streets, the tales of knights and kings, and post-WWII reconstruction…

When I wasn’t exploring Yogyakarta or returning domesticated parakeets to the wild (see last blog post) during my two months in Indonesia, I was working in the studio with my artist-mentor, Mella. The “studio” was an old, white, square-shaped building with a garden in the middle. It was built…

Religion is very often, if not always, defined by your prophet, the one you and your fellow believers have ascertained to be embedded with the most divine essence. For Muslims, this is Mohammad; for Christians, this is Jesus Christ; and for Buddhist, this is Siddhartha Gautama (Shakyamuni Buddha). And quite…

The beaded Mao tassel swung rhythmically from the rearview mirror as we came to a stop in the Beijing traffic. The air conditioning was too cold, but I savored the goosebumps. Even in the airport, it was obvious that Chinese people preferred the heat over the cost of comfort. The…

After three weeks of working alongside one another, the five artists living in Gamli Skóli (myself included) decided to host an exhibition. In the weeks prior, when we were not making art, we were busy befriending island locals and inviting them to our open house. I woke up on exhibition…

With my backpack in my lap and the air conditioning angled just perfectly at my face, I enjoyed an hour long ride to the Great Wall. When we arrived, students clambered out of the bus into the wet air. It was one of those days where the humidity felt like…

My first month living in Yogyakarta was busy and exciting. The first few weeks were especially hectic—so hectic that I barely had time to slow down enough to fully realize that I was living on my own on the other side of the world. This was good, however, because it…

A few weeks ago, I visited Jonah and Coomi of Bitterleaf Tea at their Kunming studio. Bitterleaf is known for beautiful teaware and beautiful photographs of said teaware, thanks to Coomi’s pro photography skills, but they also have been sourcing and pressing high-quality puer since they opened business three years…

In a jet-lagged haze, I travelled northward to an island off the coast of another island. After taking a plane, a bus, a van, another plane, a taxi, a bus, and a ferry, I finally arrived in Hrisey, Iceland, the ‘Second largest island in Iceland’ (approx. 3 sq mi). In…

Upon entering my senior year at Davidson College, I will have completed a full year of research under Dr. Nicole Snyder toward our investigations into new treatments for drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis. After a summer and two semesters of conducting this research in Dr. Snyder’s lab, I now have the…

“Greetings from the other side of the planet.” This is how I begin all of the postcards that I have sent from Yogyakarta, Indonesia. I am writing this blog post from a coffee shop 10,000 miles away from both my home in Atlanta and my home-away-from-home in Davidson. It took…

One year ago I knew little-to-nothing about Kosovo, Europe’s newest country — although it remains a partially recognized and disputed territory. So how exactly did I end up pitching and winning a crisis reporting grant to spend nine weeks “alone” as a journalist there? Simply, British journalist and author Carlotta…

The use of data to make decisions in sports is nothing new, but the technologies now available to measure athlete performance and interpret data have come a long way. This summer, we interned under the guidance of professor Tim Chartier for Athlete Intelligence, a sports technology and data analytics company…

“Always in the big woods when you leave familiar ground and step off alone into a new place there will be, along with the feelings of curiosity and excitement, a little nagging of dread. It is the ancient fear of the unknown, and it is your first bond with the…

A Tibetan friend who studies in a university in my home city, Guangzhou, asked me last summer when we were chatting, “Have you ever listened to Tibetan rap songs?” I had never heard of Tibetan hip-hop before, let alone Tibetan rap. What does it sound like? What are the songs…

It was a great experience to wake up, grab a yogurt and decide where I wanted to work on any given day. Would I work in the office I’d been borrowing in the library? From the study room in the dorm? In the outdoor classroom? That was my routine starting…

Hello, Davidson Community! It’s Sarah Gompper here, writing on a rainy afternoon from my tiny room in Berlin. I designed an independent summer journalism project after feeling a bit bummed that I didn’t go abroad during the year. I ended up receiving a Dean Rusk Grant, and now I’m here…

“Passion is the mission when looking for singularity. You looking like a drone. Oh boy! That’s hilarity. I’m asking life to marry me… It’s a proposition, cause we need more brothers who itching to chase ambition…” That’s a snippet of a rap I wrote and released a little over two…

On Feb. 19, 1942, 75 days after the Japanese military attacked Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt signed an executive order creating “war relocation centers,” designed to confine “threatening” domestic groups. This wartime law concerned Japanese-Americans. Facing hostility, families had to choose: stay in the “safety” of your own home, or move…

Should they stay or should they go? “Ultimately” not a hard choice for the DUFF (Davidson Ultimate Frisbee Folk) seniors, whose crew team made it to the USA Ultimate national finals tournament… scheduled for graduation weekend.

Ever since my first day of Saturday morning German school, I’ve looked forward to traveling to Germany to experience the culture I’d grown up only hearing about. And ever since the first presidential election I can remember, I’ve looked forward to the day that I would be able to cast my own vote and have my voice heard. For me, these two long-awaited, much-anticipated events coincided.